Craftellaa Peg Dolls: Cute creations from wood off-cuts

By Fathima Riznaz Hafi

Yet another venture adhering to environmentally safe guidelines is Craftellaa Peg Dolls, a home-based business that produces adorable handmade creations out of scrap and off-cut wood parts taken from the furniture industry which are then hand painted using non-toxic paints and converted to value added products. 

The wooden dolls can be used as child-safe, long-lasting toys, key chains, cake toppers, home decorations, ornaments, paper weights and any kind of toy sets and collectibles. These dolls can be customised as per the customer’s requirements to create unique personal gifts for celebrations, anniversary gifts, party favours, wedding cake toppers and souvenirs.

The person behind this venture, Nipuni Sachintha Wijebandara has been making dolls as a hobby from an early age but eventually turned it into a business which has been running for one and a half years now.

“Painting and making handicrafts was my hobby when I was schooling. After my university studies I came up with this idea to develop my hobby into a small, responsible business using recyclable packaging and prioritising local products from low income earning families when I source material. I see this as a social benefit to enhance their standard of life as well as an environmental benefit by using biodegradable material (wood) for toys and ornaments rather than using plastic toys which will add waste to the environment,” said Nipuni.

“One day I visited the Good Market which is a social enterprise that promotes and spreads the message about businesses which are good for our environment, communities and health and found that it will be a good place to start my business as it had the same concept as me. Also I thought it will be a good place to promote customised gifts and toys and provide a unique experience to customers. I want to inculcate an interest within the Sri Lankan and foreign people to enjoy and be attracted to local handicraft and culture.”

Nipuni has not attended any classes or workshops to learn this craft but has been trying different ideas, experimenting new ways of painting and learning from her mistakes. The ideas and designs are all her own. The most popular in her range are the toys. The super hero peg doll sets and toy Minions are very popular among children as well as adults and have a continuous demand from the customers. She also has different designs of Sri Lankan traditional peg dolls, with ‘The Gamarala family’ being a very popular product as souvenirs that attract many foreign people. 

“I am doing this part time along with my other work and studies. Although I am working in a different field (Management Accounting) I like to expand my hobby/business and explore the world of handicrafts as I really enjoy it and it gives me a lot of relief and self-satisfaction with good comments from customers, which is encouraging. It’s really wonderful to see people stopping in front of my stall at the Good Market and just staring at the dolls with a smile,” she said.

Delivery is provided locally as well as worldwide. Customers can order online through the online ordering platform peg dolls. They can also reach her via Facebook, Instagram and email. To place an order, at least one week’s notice is required for a small quantity and two to three weeks or even a month’s notice when it comes to a large quantity as she says it is all done by hand and the painting and finishes consume a lot of time.